Granite Shoals

A Granite Shoals man has been found guilty on 12 of 13 charges against him by a Burnet County jury, which now is expected to deliberate on his punishment.

Bryant Edward Dulin, 45, was convicted on a first-degree felony charge of super aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 6 as well as nine counts of aggravated sexual assault, one count of continuous sexual abuse of a young child and one count of indecency with a child.

By Lew K. Cohn

and Alexandria Randolph

The Highlander

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Granite Shoals City Manager Ken Nickel resigned during Tuesday night's regular city council meeting, ending a nearly five-year tenure as the city's administrative head.

Nickel's resignation was accepted by the council, effective at the end of business Wednesday, Feb. 28. Mayor Carl Brugger announced the resignation in a press release Wednesday morning.

Nickel joined the city of Granite Shoals in the fall of 2010 as the city's finance director. He was promoted to city manager in July 2013, succeeding Marvin Townsend and guiding the city to several benchmark accomplishments.

Council members will now begin the search for the city's sixth city manager since 2006, when John Gayle first took the position. Others who have served in that position include John Hatchel and Judy Miller.

Burnet County continues to see strong gains in sales tax rebates, as almost every city has experienced an increase of more than eight percent above last year's rebate revenue, with one exception.

Marble Falls, Burnet, Granite Shoals, Cottonwood Shores and Horseshoe Bay all have seen a significant jump in sales tax allocations as the percentage exceeds that for cities in the state, as Texas cities received $439.8 million in July 2017, or eight percent more revenue than in July 2016, and are up 3.2 percent overall for the year.

Those allocations are based on sales made in May by businesses that report tax monthly, according to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar.

By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor
The Highlander
Depending on the value of their property, Marble Falls Independent School District taxpayers may see their individual taxes increase for the 2016-2017 school year, but they will be paying the same tax rate they have for the past several years.
MFISD trustees voted 5-0 on Monday, Aug. 29, to set a maintenance and operations tax rate of $1.0533 per $100 valuation and an interest and sinking tax rate of 22.67 cents per $100 valuation for a total tax rate of $1.28. It is the fifth year in a row the district has set its tax rate at $1.28 per $100 valuation.
School board members also approved an additional $1,123,595 in revenue and expenditures for the fiscal 2017 budget after learning that property values for the district had come in higher than expected. This now creates a total budget of $41,373,742 — up from the budget of $40,223,217 adopted by trustees earlier this year.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The Granite Shoals City Council chose a conservative path Tuesday, July 26, delaying a citizen vote on a bond issue that could restore major thoroughfares.

The meeting wore on to midnight as the council weighed the possibility of putting a bond issue for around $2.8 million on the November ballot. In the end, Mayor Carl Brugger's vote decided to delay the ballot option to citizens until May.

The bond issue would buy the city another $3.4 million in grant matching funds if the proposed street project were to cost as much as $6.2 million.

The Marble Falls Post Office is asking the support of Marble Falls and Granite Shoals on May 14, as it joins America’s letter carriers to conduct the nation’s largest single-day food drive—Stamp Out Hunger.

The annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is hosted each year by the National Association of Letter Carriers in partnership with the U.S. Postal Service to support local food banks and the 48 million Americans who struggle with hunger.

By Lew K. Cohn

The Highlander

Managing Editor

Granite Shoals Police Chief Gary Boshears was elected to Place 1 of the Marble Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees, while Tony Satsky and Cheryl Mott Trinidad won seats on the Cottonwood Shores City Council in today's school board and municipal elections.

Granite Shoals City Manager Ken Nickel has confirmed the city has placed Police Chief J.P. Wilson on administrative leave, but has no further comment on the nature of the leave.

Nickel and other city officials have told The Highlander several times during the past two weeks that Wilson is still the chief of police in Granite Shoals and has not been terminated by the city and remains a paid employee. In his absence, command of the city's police force has shifted to Capt. Gary Boshears.

Wilson has served as the police chief of Granite Shoals for 13 years. He recently ran for sheriff of Burnet County, but failed to make the runoff election.